THERE was a strong smell of cannabis when a policeman checked on a car which had pulled up outside a block of flats on a Worcester estate, a court was told.

Sam Hodgetts was one of the four passengers and he admitted he had three ounces of the drug in packages, said Alex Warren, prosecuting.

His mobile phone was checked and the number of texts found was proof he was dealing regularly.

Hodgetts, aged 24, of Keswick Drive, Worcester, pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court to possession of cannabis with intent to supply others. He was given a 10-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to do 200 hours’ unpaid work. He must pay £200 costs and observe a 9pm to 6am curfew for three months.

Mr Warren said that Hodgetts had been seen in a Ford Focus at 1pm on January 26 this year in Crickley Drive by an officer in an unmarked police car. He initially claimed that he had paid £400 for the drug for his own use. It was valued at £800.

Hodgetts had previously been given a community order in January last year for possession of cannabis. He had carried out the unpaid work and had also got a job, said Richard Hull, defending.

He regretted the episode and had since done his best to stop using cannabis. He realised the upset it had caused to his partner and his family.

Recorder Geraint Walters warned that courts were unlikely to overlook drug dealing. “It’s about time that myth was dispelled,” he said. “Those engaged in supplying cannabis should accept that a court can punish them with imprisonment.”

But he accepted that Hodgetts had turned his life around and obtained a job. The public would be best served by making him do unpaid work rather than putting him in prison.